TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology opened HCAC Competition on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of Defiance. The Fightin' Engineers took game one 10-2 and added a 5-3 win in the second game of the day.
In the opener,
Ian Kline dominated on the mound with seven innings of three hit baseball. The Rose-Hulman ace struck out eight batters while only allowing one unearned run to pick up his second win of the season.
On the offensive side, the Fightin' Engineers were all over the Yellow Jackets pitchers with 10 runs on 15 hits in the first game. Seven different Rose-Hulman batters added two hits in the game including
Kade Kline,
Peter Rogers,
Andy Krajecki,
Ben Christiansen,
Dalton Busboom, Conner O'Connell, and
Blake Deckard.
Rogers and Krajecki each added a pair of RBIs. Christiansen, O'Connell, and Deckard each added a double, and Krajecki added his fourth home run of the season and third in his last two games.
In the nightcap, the bats cooled down and the pitchers took center stage.Â
Alec Lewandowski started the game with four innings of two-run baseball. In relief,
Zacheus Carr and
Evan Chung combined to go four innings of no-hit baseball, only allowing two total baserunners before
Jonathan Oliger came in to close it in the ninth. The Yellow Jackets rallied in the ninth with a three hits to put the tying run on first base with the game-winning run at the dish, but Oliger was able to pick up his third save of the season
At the plate, the Fightin' Engineers got it started early in the first inning with a three-run home run from
Ben Christiansen to give Rose-Hulman an early lead that they would not relinquish. The Fightin' Engineers would add a pair of runs in the third inning on an RBI single by
Jonathan Oliger and a double steal by Oliger and
Mason Rasmussen to bring home the fifth run of the game.
Oliger and Christiansen would lead the team in the second game with two hits a piece.
Rose-Hulman improved to 9-6 on the season and 2-0 in HCAC play, while Defiance dropped to 3-10 and 0-2 in the HCAC. The Fightin' Engineers will return to Art Nehf Field on Wednesday night at 6 PM as they host Wabash.
